


Valentine Gift

by Aithilin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gift Giving, M/M, Mer!Ignis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 01:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13671480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: Ignis had never really paid much attention to the Lucian holidays before.





	Valentine Gift

Insomnia was a diverse city. The most diverse city in Eos, if the rumours were to be believed. King Regis had prided himself and his people on their welcome of those displaced by the war with Niflheim, by the advancement and encroachment onto other territories that had been ancestral homes and hunting grounds. It had grown over the years until it stood as the last bastion against Imperial rule; its magic standing testament to the strength of ancient dynasties that refused to break.

He had welcomed in the fey and sylph of Tenebrae, with their charms and mischief, granting them the forests and farms that kept the city fed. He granted their speech-craft in his court, trusting his allies to spot the lies among the politicians. There was a treaty brokered for their safety; granting them citizenship in the city so long as their mischief caused no harm to others. 

The Wolves of Galahd and Cavaugh had come to him when their homes burned. Seeking the safety in the city walls until they could take back their own territories. Their own rule. Some left after a time— off to hunt in the greater kingdom in the dusts of Leide or the marshes of Duscae. Those who stayed, stayed out of loyalty to a king they trusted to lead them, but snapped amongst their own packs as territory narrowed. King Regis had learnt how to appease some— the ones from Galahd more interested in peace than in territory, the ones from Cavaugh more interested in strength and vengeance than peace— through districts and territories he could grant. In return, most of those who could, fought for him. 

But it was the sea creatures the young prince Noctis seemed to like the most. 

He had spent summers down at the water of the piers and docks, the maze of marina spreading out across the little bay caged in by fortifications and Wall. He watched the fish before he learnt to fish, his uncle bringing him from one boat to the next to see the strange creatures caught in the nets. He had stood then, leaning over the edge of a boat, marvelling at the shine and shimmer of colourful scales while the men and women around him laughed at his curiosity. 

He hadn’t known them to be merfolk until they came to the Citadel to ask for peace. 

“They can change as they need to, your highness,” Cor had explained when he asked where the tails went— why he never seemed to see the same creatures that were in his picture books. “It’s the grace of Leviathan that lets them do it.”

And Noct had seen them, standing proud as they refused to kneel or bow to the witch king of Insomnia. As Regis smiled to them and greeted them as friends. Noct sat at the steps when he was too tired to stand by the throne, more interested in the boy that had joined the visiting creatures for these talks. 

His name was Ignis, and he sat with Noct while the adults talked about trade routes and protections, and reefs that would be granted as a home, territorial waters that could be shared. He sat with Ignis on the steps and they talked about the city, and the way it rose around them, and the traffic flowed in currents. Ignis commented on the magic of the royal line that could be felt in ripples from as far away as Accordo, where he came from. Noct told him about the people he met at the docks, with their strange eyes and fluid movements, letting him take the shining pearls they pulled from some catches. 

The negotiations with Ignis’ people lasted the day. And for all they asked, Regis only asked to share the waters. They left Ignis to be fostered with the prince. Their own prince to learn about the witches that ruled Lucis and speak on their behalf when needed. 

There was a pool in the Citadel. It had stood undisturbed and rarely used by the royal family for decades. Regis had it drained of its water and refilled without the chemicals— stocked with cleaning plants and pieces of Ignis’ ocean home for him. The room was transformed from the sterile, echoing bath chamber it had been for years to a child’s room. A bed and toys, books and a table for the boy who would live there. The chlorine scrubbed from the walls and tile floors. The arched windows opened to let the fresh airs in, the ventilation updated to suit a royal apartment; the locks were changed and Ignis handed the new key. 

He had asked that Noct have a copy, so he could visit. 

Noct had learnt to swim in that pool— he had known the waters well and the open, echoing sounds of his splashing and laughter as he played in the waters with Gladio. He had learnt some of his magic there, scrying the calm waters, though it wasn’t a talent he had developed. 

It was there that he had first seen Ignis tail. 

His newfound friend had taken to the room well, had appreciated the effort to give him what he needed— though it was a poor excuse for the open waters of the ocean. And Noct had visited to play, only to find that his friend was swimming, gracefully moving to explore the new fixtures in his home, powerful tail curling when he settled in one spot to move things around beneath the surface. 

“You’re pretty,” had been the greeting that came to mind first. Noct reaching out to touch the scales that were the same colour as his friend’s eyes— an iridescent green that shone in the warm light of the windows. 

They had grown up together, as was asked. Ignis learnt about the colder waters of Lucina Sound, and the open bay there that could home some of his people. He learnt about the dragons still in Solheim, sleeping curled around their ruins as living fire. He sat in on the negotiations between people and nations and displaced communities still begging for a home from King Regis. Or the promise of a purpose, the hint that the Witch King of Lucis would help them regain their own homes even as he defended his. He sat and studied as he watched Noct learn runes and common recipes for potions, learning his father’s magic even as he came into his own. He learnt about the mechanical monstrosities built in the Empire to resemble humans; consuming, destructive, unstoppable. And the human Emperor who wanted to conquer and dominate everything in Eos despite his species not being suited to more than half of it. 

He learnt that Noct was scared of his magic and the power that tied him to the Crystal housed deep in the Citadel. 

He learnt that Noct loved the water, and swimming calmed him. He wandered to the rivers and lakes of Insomnia with the prince, took him to the marina himself. He helped him with fishing with more than a rod— nets and spears coming as a second nature to him. 

He watched Noct grow up with him. 

And Ignis learnt to celebrate the holidays of Lucis. 

“What’s this one, again?”

“Valentine’s Day.”

“And who’s Valentine?” Ignis hadn’t bothered with most holidays until Noct started talking about them. They were older, Noct now eighteen and growing powerful. But still happy to lounge by the waters in Ignis’ rooms while Ignis let his tail move lazily beneath the surface, leaning at the edge of the water to watch Noct become mesmerised by him. He was still proud that Noct thought he was pretty. He was still proud that Noct’s hands drew to him naturally, that his friend was still in awe of him at times. 

“Depending on who you ask,” Noct grinned, slipping into the shallows to rest on the steps that had never been removed. He settled next to Ignis, leaning back against the pool’s edge; “he was either a disgraced king who was exiled for seducing the wives of his successors—”

“Charming,” Igmis toned, voice try even as he moved closer to the prince until his tail was practically draped over his friend— trapping him in the shallows.

“— Or,” Noct continued, hands smoothing over the deep green scales of the tail, careful of the frills that had appeared and grown as Ignis matured. They had both grown lean, and strong. Ignis taller in his human appearance, and longer in his natural state. His tail had darkened, deepened from the shine and iridescence of his childhood, the colour no longer as reflective or flashy as it once was. He had allowed himself to get vain when they were like this, when Noct was careful and calm and smiling as he trusted Ignis in the water. “He was a beloved martyr who was unjustly killed for sanctifying forbidden loves. Take your pick. Either way, I got you a present.”

“A present?”

“Tradition. Sort of. Dad said it was,” Noct retrieved the little box he had brought in and set down within easy reach of the pool. “You’re supposed to give gifts to the ones you love for the holiday.”

“Are you saying you love me?”

He had meant it as a teasing remark, a flitting little comment to be laughed at, as he reached for the offered gift. 

“What if I am, Iggy?”

He paused, just as his hand closed on the little gift, stunned by the question. “Noct?”

“What if I am saying that?”

They had been friends for years. They had trained together, escaped training together. He had watched as Noct learnt spells and magic that could rival his father— could feel that power pulsing around the gift. He had declined to return to his own people in favour of staying in the Citadel, trading the ocean for this little pool because it was easier for Noct to visit. 

Ignis closed his hand around the gift and kissed Noct— a quick, chaste peck, even as he curled his tail closer to keep the now-blushing prince from running away. “Then I hope you’ll allow me to do that love justice.”

“Iggy—”

“I love you, Noct, despite not having a gift for you too.”

He smiled at the blush it earned him, at the way Noct fidgeted and smiled and stretched his arms across the weight holding him in place on the shallows’ steps. Careful of the water, Ignis opened the present; he could feel the power in the pendant, and see the small runes carefully decorating the Lucian royal totem. The skull was simple and small, and powerful. 

“It’s protection magic. Not that you’d need it. But it’d—”

“It’s wonderful, Noct.” Ignis fastened the chain as Noct took the box from his hand. Noct had barely turned back before Ignis was kissing him again— more than the small, shy peck. “Wonderful.”


End file.
